Hop Back Brewery Pickled Santa

Pickled Santa

 

Hop Back Brewery in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Collab with: Ridgeway Brewing
  Bitter - ESB / Strong Bitter Winter
Score
6.17
ABV: 6.0% IBU: - Ticks: 46
Sold in the UK as Hop Back Pickled Santa. Sold in the USA bottle only as Ridgeway Pickled Santa.

Apparently made with spices—cinnamon, nutmeg and coriander—so you expect it to smell like mulled wine but in fact it has a very yeasty aroma. There are perfumed spicy notes there but it’s not what hits you first. Its colour is dark and it has a robust flavour with a heavy, hoppy, toasty, almost sour weight on the tongue.
 

Sign up to add a tick or review

Join Us


     Show


6.9/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
Bottle at the RealAle.com stall at the MasterChef Live Expo, London, 2011. Pours dark amber with a moderate, off-white head. Big, malty aroma with some Christmas spices, some bread and caramel. Medium sweet flavor, plenty more holiday spices, some dark and ripe fruits, cake. Medium bodied with fine to average carbonation. Sweet finish, lingering spices, light leafy bitterness, pronounced malt character. Not bad. A nice spiced holiday beer.
Tried from Bottle on 13 Nov 2011 at 02:24

3.6/10 Appearance 4 Aroma 3 Flavor 3 Texture 4 Overall 4.5
Bottle from Beersofeurope. Pickled is a good description, full of spices as well, especially nutmeg. Rather aweful actually.
Tried from Bottle on 30 Oct 2011 at 11:03

6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6
Bottle. Amber beer with a cream colored head. Spice and sweet malt aroma. Xmas spice and sweet craamel flavor. Medium bodied. Light caramel and spice lingers with sweet malt and light earthiness.
Tried from Bottle on 30 Mar 2011 at 12:47

6.9/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Bottle from the Bitter End, Bromley. Light golden brown pour with a fluffy beige head. Toffee, figs, butterscotch and heather aromas. Dates, walnuts, raisins in the flavour. Sweet, warming finish. Didn’t mind this one.
Tried from Bottle on 28 Mar 2011 at 09:33

6.1/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
Half liter bottle pours copper with weak white head. The aroma is spicy and estery and a bit peppery too. The taste has the expected spices with some cinnamon mixing with coriander, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Around the spices this gets pretty sugary sweet and pulls up mild amounts of light skinned fruity esters. Too sugary sweet for me.
Tried from Bottle on 21 Jan 2011 at 18:05

5.9/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 5.5
28th April 2007
Warning! Early amateur rating! Not notably spicy! Reasonably easy drinking Christmas beer. Slightly bitter. Good but unremarkable.
Tried on 03 Jan 2011 at 10:00

5.6/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 5 Flavor 5 Texture 6 Overall 5.5
Bottle from Wine Warehouse in Charlottesville, VA. Pours a clear dark golden color with a medium sized offwhite head. Decent head retention and lacing. Spices in the aroma, primarily cinnamon, with a bit of diacetyl and a grainy finish. The taste is hugely spicy... cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, grassy hops and a bit of a buttery note. Medium bodied.
Tried from Bottle on 14 Aug 2010 at 18:49

6.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 5 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
500ml bottle. Amber colour with a nice head. Some spice and yeast on the nose, but not much else. Lot of spice on the taste, nutmeg and cinnamon. medium body and with a nice bitter, spicy finish. Not a bad Xmas beer, glad to be drinking it in a hot July!
Tried from Bottle on 01 Jul 2010 at 14:25

6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6
Bottle 500ml.Clear medium amber orange color with a average to large, frothy to creamy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, toasted, spicy, chocolate notes, moderate to light heavy yeasty, UK yeast, spicy, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20091231]
Tried from Bottle on 02 Mar 2010 at 11:01

5.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 5 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6
Bottle 50 cl. Pours a clear warm amber with a small off-white head. Very spicy aroma, cardamom and cinnamon shining through. Solid body, low in carbonation, lots of caramel, licorice and spices with a warming alcoholic finish. Probably becomes a bit cloying after a while but certainly very christmassy. 230110
Tried from Bottle on 23 Jan 2010 at 11:52